Critical Impact (16 page)
Authors: Linda Hall
Dear Reader,
A couple of winters ago I fell on the ice and broke my right arm. I'm right-handed, and I'm a writer. It was quite a traumatic experience to be a writer and not even able to even make out my own shopping list.
Anna Barker, also right-handed, is an esthetician with hopes for a career in stage makeup. In the first chapter, however, her right hand is badly injured in a serious accident in which a couple of her students are killed. How will she work? Will she ever get the use of her hand back? Are all her dreams dashed? How does she manage with what is known as “survivor's guilt”?
Plus, with a recent shattered love experience, she didn't feel her life was worth a whole lot. She felt that all she was doing was “waiting,” waiting on God, waiting for something to happen in her life, waiting for her arm to heal.
I wanted to explore all these feelings and thoughts when I set out to write
Critical Impact,
this third book in my Whisper Lake series.
If you have ever had to “wait” on God to meet some important need of yours, I would love to hear from you. My e-mail address is: [email protected].
I also would invite you to visit my Web site: writerhall.com.
- Have you ever lost the physical ability to do some important task? How did you manage? What did you learn from that experience?
- What does it mean to “wait on the Lord”? What was Anna waiting for? Have you ever had to wait for God to answer a prayer? Was the answer you got the one you wanted? Why or why not?
- Which character do you identify with the most, and why?
- Lois saw Marg as a needy person who needed help. So she went to church with her and offered to be her friend. In your opinion, was this a wise thing? Why or why not?
- Have you ever been in Lois's shoesâtrying to help a needy person and yet having your efforts backfire? Explain.
- What was the dangerous teaching in Brother Phil's church that Marg really took to heart?
- Do you think Marg was justified in doing what she did? Why or why not? How does God's grace fit into this picture?
- Stu's wife was killed in Iraq, and he vowed that he would never love anyone again. What was so different about Anna that he was drawn to her?
- What would you have done if you had received the handwritten note telling you not to go to the police? Would you have gone to the police? Why or why not?
- In the end, Anna finally realized that God loves her. In your opinion, what was that turning point?
ISBN: 978-1-4268-6947-1
CRITICAL IMPACT
Copyright © 2010 by Linda Hall
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the editorial office, Steeple Hill Books, 233 Broadway, New York, NY 10279 U.S.A.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
This edition published by arrangement with Steeple Hill Books.
® and TM are trademarks of Steeple Hill Books, used under license. Trademarks indicated with ® are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Canadian Trade Marks Office and in other countries.
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Whisper Lake